Empire style ormolu and cut glass eighteen light chandelier

£45,000

This beautiful French Empire style chandelier is wrought from intricately cast ormolu and is defined by long and elegant cascading chains of faceted glass droplets.

 

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Description

This magnificent Empire style chandelier is crafted from beautiful ormolu (gilt bronze) and finely cut glass. The chandelier is of a traditional ‘tent and bag’ form, with a lower domed or basket body and an upper canopy, the shape of the basket and the canopy articulated by cascading chains of faceted glass droplets.

The top of the chandelier is defined by a circular ormolu belt mounted with a corona of flared anthemia and draped with elongated and crystalline glass drops. Below lies a further ormolu belt, also cast with anthemion forms. The bottom of the canopy is defined by the primary ormolu belt—known as the meridian—that issues nine pairs of lights, each branch of the eighteen total being ornately scrolled, with a large anthemion rising between each pair. From this meridian falls the domed belly of the chandelier, defined by chains of faceted glass drops, all the chains meeting at the centre and connected to a small hollow ormolu ring.

The ormolu throughout is beautifully cast with classicising motifs, including the anthemia previously described but also rosettes, and the ormolu light branches are exquisitely cast in a delicate, scrolling manner. The effect is one of lightness: the entire chandelier seems delicately transparent, despite is impressive size.

Details

Country of Origin
French
Date of Manufacture
19th Century
Period
19th Century
Style
Empire
Material
Cut Glass, Glass, Ormolu (Gilt Bronze)
Colour
Clear, Gold

Dimensions

Height
173 cm / 68.1 inches
Diameter
120 cm / 47.2 inches

Reference:
16223

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